The Friend Zone
by Bourguit
Summary: Jin and Lili crosses paths and friendship is formed, but will a darkness poison it? A story based in the time frame of Tekken 5 and author cwazzy-gyal123's public request.


The Friend Zone 

Émilie "Lili" Rochefort and Jin Kazamameet at their assigned dojo ring. Without saying a word, they give each other time to stretch. No words were required for them. They've become fast friends after finding out they both have father issues and a common love for fighting gloves.

She still socialized and met all types of people and creatures from all walks of life, but her bond with Jin was fermented in their mutual and personal need to stomp out Mishima. Though her family's financial concerns seems minor to the anger that slowly brewed when Jin spoke about Mishima.

"I'll take it easy on you old-timer," she says as she loosens her arms. She watches his slight smile, but he doesn't laugh. She's annoyed that she hasn't been able to make him laugh.

"You should mind your manners."

"Doesn't that sound like what the elderly would say?"

"As always…I love your…honesty," he says as starts his upper body stretches.

His Japanese accent makes him more attractive to her than his bare chest ever could, but Lili tells herself to not have a crush on him. In addition to the fact that they are about to fight, it'd be like crushing on her high school Algebra teacher. And even worse, his hair is too retro.

She says in response, "Speaking of which, I liked you more when you're wearing a suit. Those black spandex pants with the flame designs are for wrestlers."

"And you dress like a school-girl model."

She replies immediately, "A top rated model."

They salute each other in the fashion they designed, a cool rhythm of slapping hands she came up with yesterday; it took Jin five tries before he got it right. They take a few steps back and Jin immediately gets into his fighting stance. Lili pushes her long blonde hair back and smiles before getting into her fight stance.

She starts the fight by introducing her fighting style with a front spinning kick. She catches him off guard with her lighting speed. After she connects, she hits him with fast punches to the face, followed by an overhead kick into his shoulder. Before she can follow with another kick, he hits her low in the stomach and her side. She counters with cartwheel kicks and kicks him into the floor. There was no way she could be faster and her timing be any sharper; she's perfect. The crowd that forms around them is in awe.

But Jin suddenly rises from the ground like a rocket with a hard uppercut. Lili is knocked back a few steps, reanalyzing Jin. His facial expression changes as he looks purposefully at her with intent. She charges him, but his speed catches her off guard and he punches her hard in the face with a power she hasn't felt before. She falls to the ground.

"Stay….down." He wasn't asking her, he was telling her.

She jumps back up and goes quickly into her fighting position, her ambition and competitive spirit wouldn't allow her to stay on the ground. She attacks, becoming more brutal with her kicks, hurting him on both sides of his head. She follows through with a fast spinning kick, but in the process he hits her hard in the face and she falls onto the floor.

"Stay…_down_."

She screams as she gets back to her feet. She musters ever ounce of her anger, putting it into the best cartwheel kick she's ever done. But he moves aside with a speed she's never seen before. Then he grabs her by her ribs and slams back towards the ground. She tries to flip away with her hands, but she misjudges the timing and her elbows hit the ground before her body follows. She moans as she slowly looks at him.

"_Stay down_!" A small gust of wind blows against him.

The crowd starts to tell her to do stay down. She gets up; the idea of being considered someone not to take seriously angered her. She springs into several attacks, landing punches and kicks wherever she could. To her surprise he just takes the hits. As she leads into a double punch he catches her fists, even though he's looking down.

Their eyes meet when he looks up at her. She watches him grind his teeth and then she sees his eyes glimmer with a red tint. She's lost in the moment, but returns to reality as his grip around her wrists tightens. She screams in pain.

He throws her arms up and then kicks her hard in the chest. Air leaves her lungs as she flies uncontrollably away; in a brief moment, she sees Jin's eyes glowing red. Then she bounces off the floor and then falls off the ring unto the ground with her left arm taking the blunt of the impact; she screams in pain as it dislocates. She slowly rolls unto her back.

She can't believe how unnaturally fast and hard the kick was. The last thing she hears is the buzzing in her ears before she allows herself to close her eyes and rest for a moment. But in that moment, she immediately opens her eyes after the feeling her body being raised and legs dangling. She's in Jin's arms and her head is resting against his muscular chest as he carries her through the crowd. She remains idol in his arms, incapable to do anything but squirm for a moment; her body is beat up but her spirit is alive inside.

"Let…me…go," she mutters.

Her ears are still buzzing. She can't make out the words he's saying. But she can see the shame in his facial expression and the concern in his eyes; the red tint she thought she saw is gone.

She closes her eyes and rests. She can take a loss; it was a real good fight. She promises herself to beat him next time.

_Fin_


End file.
